EU: Google not sole control of personal information

Landmark ruling says people have some right over search engines

Associated Press

Published 6:24 pm, Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Photo: Mark Lennihan

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2012, file photo, a man raises his hand during at Google offices in New York. People should have some say over the results that pop up when they conduct a search of their own name online, Europe's highest court said Tuesday, May 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) ORG XMIT: NYBZ161 less

FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2012, file photo, a man raises his hand during at Google offices in New York. People should have some say over the results that pop up when they conduct a search of their own name ... more

Photo: Mark Lennihan

EU: Google not sole control of personal information

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Amsterdam

In a landmark ruling that could rock the Internet search-engine industry, Europe's highest court said Tuesday that people are entitled to some control over what pops up when their name is Googled.

The Court of Justice of the European Union said Google must listen and sometimes comply when individuals ask the search giant to remove links to newspaper articles or websites containing information about them.

The ruling applies to EU citizens and all search engines in Europe, including Yahoo and Microsoft's Bing. It remains to be seen whether it will change the way Google and its rivals operate in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world.

Nor is it clear exactly how the court envisions Google and others handling complaints, which could prove to be a logistical headache if large numbers of people start demanding that information about themselves be removed.

While some digital-rights experts welcomed the decision as a victory for privacy rights, others warned it could lead to online censorship.

More Information

Google said it was disappointed by the ruling — which cannot be appealed — but was still studying its implications.

The Mountain View, Calif., company has long argued that people with complaints about Web searches containing outdated or otherwise objectionable information should take it up with the websites.

The EU, which would be the world's largest economy if its 28 countries were counted as one, has a population of over 500 million.

The case was referred to the European Court from Spain's National Court, which asked for advice in the case of Mario Costeja, a Spaniard who found a search on his name turned up links to a notice that his property was due to be auctioned because of an unpaid welfare debt. The notice had been published in a Spanish newspaper in 1998, and was tracked by Google's robots when the newspaper digitized its archive. Costeja argued that the debt had long since been settled, and he asked the Spanish privacy agency to have the reference removed. In 2010, the agency agreed, but Google refused and took the matter to court, saying it should not be asked to censor material that had been legally published by the newspaper.

"It's a great relief to be shown that you were right when you have fought for your ideas. It's a joy," Costeja told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "If Google was great before, it's perfect now, because there are game rules to go by."

He said that "ordinary people will know where they have to go" to complain about bad or old information that turns up on a Google search.

Costeja's case will now return to Spain for final judgment. There are about 200 others in the Spanish court system, some of which may still prove difficult to decide. For instance, one involves a plastic surgeon who wants mentions of a botched operation removed from Google's results

In its ruling, the European Court said people may address requests directly to the operator of the search engine, "which must then duly examine its merits."

The right is not absolute, as search engines must weigh "the legitimate interest of Internet users potentially interested in having access to that information" against the right to privacy. When an agreement can't be reached, the Luxembourg-based court said, the matter can be referred to a local judge or regulator.